Back in the day, way back in like, you know, 2009, my roommate and I were trying to pick a place to take a short vacation.
For some reason I said, “let’s go to Costa Rica!” and then we took out a map and made sure it was close enough. Somehow the stars all aligned and we found direct flights down to Liberia, a small town in Costa Rica, for $199 return.
Now the stars don’t always align, and I don’t always have these impromptu lightbulb moments (much to my dismay because they sure are helpful and convenient). Sometimes, you have a short amount of time and you want to make it count, but you don’t know how to maximize it within your budget and time constraints, am I right?
Picking randomly by throwing darts at a map is great for people who have hand-eye coordination. I don’t, so I usually end up with a lot of holes in the wall.
Therefore, using a searchable map that comes back with a bunch of options based on my broad dates is usually how I like to do it.
For this example, I’m showing you a flight I recently looked at using Skyscanner’s inspire map tool.
When I’m undecided it’s helpful looking at an interactive map that comes back to me with a bunch of options that I can choose from, including ones that I have probably never heard of before. It’s fun to find so many possibilities and often some really good deals.
There are a couple that exist in the market but the one I like the most is Skyscanner’s since it takes layovers into account and displays flights accordingly.
This time, I did a search for February since I know that I want to escape winter and can be flexible on the dates. This is what I came back with:
After running my mouse over the map and watching places pop up, I found Tamuning and thought, I don’t know that place, but maybe I should?
*furious Googling*
Wow, this is in Guam. Guam is actually a US territory. How did I not know this?
This is why Americans have this reputation that we know nothing about geography, Kristin!
As cool as Guam sounds, after playing around with the days I found that it was just a deal for a brief trip, and I wanted something longer. After more thought, I figured I might actually be in Berlin at that time instead, and did some searching from there.
That’s when a flight back to the US from Berlin popped up for a mind-boggling $377! I’ve never paid that little for a RT flight between the US and Europe before, though I came close when I flew around the world the other direction to get home a couple of years ago.
This could really be a steal!
I clicked on Los Angeles and played with the dates a bit until I found a weeklong trip, which would be perfect for a quick jaunt home to remind my friends and family that I’m still alive and well.
I clicked on the green button and on the next page, found a bunch of options for around $400 on Norwegian Airlines through the tool:
There it was, a $434 roundtrip flight from Berlin to Los Angeles. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that cheap and I may never again.
After scrolling down a bit, I was able to find one more suitable for me on American Airlines — an airline that I have mileage credit with — for just $60 more. Perfect!
By being flexible and using this tool I shaved hours off of what would have been a game of searching, changing around dates, visiting various websites and finding the prices had changed, and so on. That’s why I love these maps – they let me search lazily.
So get ready, everyone, I’m coming home to see you in February!
You can find more information about Skyscanner here, and download the app here.
*This article was brought to you in partnership with Skyscanner, which I actually do use. Often, including for this particular flight. All opinions expressed in this article are sincere.
Ijana says
That’s exactly what I did last winter! Found Los Angeles to Copenhagen round trip for $424 on Norwegian. Skyscanner is basically the best website ever created.
Kristin says
I took an LA to Copenhagen flight with them for $170 once in May. SO GOOD
Dave Briggs says
This is the most detailed post about Skyscanner that I’ve found! I have no idea how to use the app, the images most certainly help. Thanks for sharing!
Kristin says
Glad you liked it!
Kassie says
Love skyscanner! Earlier this year, I found a mistake fare from Hong Kong to Boston for just $78 using it. It was the cheapest I’ve ever paid to fly pretty much anywhere. Sometimes you just get lucky!
Kristin says
Whaaaaaat that’s so good that even if I had no plans to be in Boston I’d just go for the hell of it! Great for getting miles too!
Anne says
Flights are becoming increasingly cheaper. We’re going to Paris in March and a ticket from Israel cost us only $30 per person. That’s about a 5-hour long trip. I really can’t fathom how the airlines survive with these prices.
Of course, the trick was to book the flight as soon as they opened the reservations for that date. Within a few hours it climbed up to $120 per ticket. Still about half of what we used to pay for the same flight a decade ago. I couldn’t find anything nearly as cheap going back from Paris to Israel, so I ended up adding Berlin as a destination. 5 days in Paris, then a flight to Berlin, then from Berlin back home. The total was $140 per person which is pretty good, IMO, for three flights.
Sarah says
What a great deal! I love playing around with Google Flights. I did not realize that Skyscanner had a similar tool. Will definitely be playing around with it for my next trip.
Cathy says
Thanks for explaining Skyscanner – I hadn’t had any luck until I followed how you did it:)